Burning waste material on a concrete pad

[955er]

As always, a lot of good information here on TBN, but seriously Wrath:

Pile it up, burn it, go over the debris with a magnet, and be done with it. You're not trying to re-invent the wheel here.

You will be done with the whole thing in 24 hours and you can move on to the next project on your property.

Just a thought....

 

[wrath]

Old thread, and as you can gather, I'm a bit of a long time lurker/never poster.

I ended up burning pretty much everything in a 275 gallon fuel oil tank. It took nearly 10 years of burning at least one day a week... but I'm done. Everything that could burn, that I wouldn't feel bad about burning (didn't burn radial tires at least), is burned. All the ashes contained and bagged in feed bags then put in the trash. I still ended up with nearly 3,000lbs of scrap metal that wasn't cars/appliances. I have probably 30 yards of concrete and brick I have "sorted" plus all the crap that is buried. Still have plenty of half-buried metal (rotted culverts, old fence, even razor wire). I even found two *fuel oil* water heaters. I think I lost count at 70 burning barrels I found. They'd use them, when they rotted, they'd kick them down the hill. Over the decades they just became "one" with the earth.

I ended up modifying the fuel oil tank extensively to turn it into an "incinerator" to get around any issues I'd have with the "government". It received directed air holes (via 3/4" pipe), a power fan, and an elaborate chimney system to trap any ash. I also built a trailer for it, so I moved it to what I wanted to burn. I even put a controller on it to adjust draft to maximize temperature. I went through at least one chimney setup per year. Even burning things I normally wouldn't, it burned so hot that there was no smell or color. It worked beautifully, but it is now fully worn out and I'm going to build another one.

 

[TheMan419]

Wow that is a LOT of crap to burn. 3000 pounds of scrap alone would have been enough to deal with much less all that other stuff.

 

[PILOON]

Not the fastest in the world but I use a 'burn barrel'.
45 gal drum with 6 ea 1 1/4" holes at bottom and another row about 12 inches up.
I place that barrel on a bed of sand or crushed stone.
That barrel works like a blast furnace leaving only ash and nails screws etc.
I use a magnet wrapped in a poly bag to gather the nails.
A hole saw is great to make those vent holes.
As to sparks I use an old wire mesh porch fire pit screen to trap them.
The only other problem is a fire permit, which we are required to have, but that's free providing U comply with the rules.
I also keep a hose nearby 'just in case'.

 

[Thall303]

Same here, but if you apply for a “fire permit” the authorities will laugh at you!

 

[wrath]

Technically where I live it is an incinerator which the normal rules do not apply. The part that pushes it over the edge is the blower. I don't use it most of the time, careful control of the draft keeps the temperature up. I also 'recess' the chimney into the fuel oil tank 6" so the top contains a lot of heat before the fumes go out. It works well. I also built a sheetmetal roof over it so it keeps the temperature up. I think due to temperature and picking when I burned no one knew I was doing it.

If I want to apply for a "burn permit" I can, but it's not for trash. Has to be natural occurring material. My trash burning neighbors have been fined many times, even had to pay for the fire department to come out once.

I was mostly worried about crap leaching into the groundwater and sharp crap. Hundreds of ceramic insulators later, plenty of brass/copper/aluminum roofing nails/etc... and we won't talk about the glass... hundreds of those tiny glass bottles for animal medicine alone, plus someone liked cheap vodka... so much easier to just shovel **** into the incinerator and then put it in bags.

The crazy part is how little plastic I found. I'm guessing they burned that themselves...

Found an entire kitchen worth of cabinets complete with formica on top still...

There is still a lot out there, but none of it is combustible or visible. Concrete I've been putting in piles, most of the rest of the stuff I've been cutting up and putting in the trash.

 

[stuckmotor]

If that decking material you mentioned was treated it could have contained arsenic. I wouldn't want that leaching into the ground either. The smoke might also be toxic.

 

[4570Man]

I just pile up everything and burn it. The burned nails rust away pretty fast and flat tires are less expensive than dealing with it other ways. I’ve actually never gotten a flat from doing that and I do it a lot.

 

[ponytug]

Technically where I live it is an incinerator which the normal rules do not apply. The part that pushes it over the edge is the blower. I don't use it most of the time, careful control of the draft keeps the temperature up. I also 'recess' the chimney into the fuel oil tank 6" so the top contains a lot of heat before the fumes go out. It works well. I also built a sheetmetal roof over it so it keeps the temperature up. I think due to temperature and picking when I burned no one knew I was doing it.

If I want to apply for a "burn permit" I can, but it's not for trash. Has to be natural occurring material. My trash burning neighbors have been fined many times, even had to pay for the fire department to come out once.

I was mostly worried about crap leaching into the groundwater and sharp crap. Hundreds of ceramic insulators later, plenty of brass/copper/aluminum roofing nails/etc... and we won't talk about the glass... hundreds of those tiny glass bottles for animal medicine alone, plus someone liked cheap vodka... so much easier to just shovel **** into the incinerator and then put it in bags.

The crazy part is how little plastic I found. I'm guessing they burned that themselves...

Found an entire kitchen worth of cabinets complete with formica on top still...

There is still a lot out there, but none of it is combustible or visible. Concrete I've been putting in piles, most of the rest of the stuff I've been cutting up and putting in the trash.

Do you have a photo? That sounds like an efficient design.

All the best, Peter

 

[oosik]

I have a large open pit - much like the picture 4570Man posted. All my junk goes there. ABSOLUTELY no garbage. Burnt garbage attracts unwanted critters. I have rural garbage service.

Anyhow - once every winter I burn and cover whatever is in this pit. If/when the pit fills - dig a new one.